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MISSOURI'S JUBILEE. 



SPEEO H 



THOMAS C. FLETCHER, 



GOVERNOR OF MISSOURI, 



DELIVERED IN THE STATE CAPITOL, 



ON THE OCCASION OF THE RECEPTION BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE 

NEWS OF THE PASSAGE OF THE CONVENTION ORDINANCE 

ABOLISHING SLAVERY IN MISSOURI. 



JEFFERSON CITY: 

W. A. CUHRT, PUBLIC PRIMTER. 

1865. 






AN ORDINANCE ABOLISHING SLAVERY IN MISSOURL 



Be it ordained hy the People of the State of Missouri^ in Convention astern- 
bled: 

That, hereafter, in this State, there shall be neither slavery nor invol- 
untary servitude, except in punishment of crime, whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted ; and all persons held to service or labor ag 
ilavea are hereby declared free. 

A. KREKEL, 
President of the Missouri State Convention. 

A true copy of the original Ordinance, as passed and on record. 

AMOS P. FOSTER, 
Steretary of the Missouri State Convention. 



! 



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PROCEEDINGS IN THE LEGISLATURE. 



On the 11th of January, 1865, upon the reception by telegraph of the 
intelligence of the passage of the Ordinance of Emancipation by the State 
Convention, in session at St. Louis, both houses of the Missouri Legisla- 
ture adjourned, and jointly held an informal meeting in the Hall of tho 
House of Representatives, to rejoice over the event ; Mr. Speaker Love- 
lace being in the chair. 

Mr. Hewitt, Representative from Marion, introduced the following 
resolution : 

Resolved, That the Chairman appoint a committee of three to wait 
upon the Governor and acquaint him with the glad news, and request him 
to come up to the Capitol and address the meeting on this glorious occasion. 

The motion being agreed to, the Chairman appointed as such commit- 
tee, Messrs. Hewitt and Newcomb, of the House, and Mr. VanHoro, of 
the Sena<-e. 

The committee waited upon the Governor at the Executive Mansion, and 
immediately returned with His Excellency, who, upon his appearance in 
the hall, was greeted with three cheers, and proceeded to address the 
meeting. 

House or Representatives, > i 
Jefferson City, January 13, 1865. \ 

Mr. Kellerman, of Washington, presented the following resolution : 

Resolved, That ten thousand copies of the speech of Governor 
Fletcher, delivered at the emancipation jubilee at the Capitol, on January 
11, 1865, be printed for the use of this House. \ 

The rules were suspended and the resolution was adopted. 



S P E E C EL . 



Free Men of Missouri : 

I thank you for the invitation you have given me to mingle my voice 
with yours on this occasion of our general rejoicing. In the lightning's 
chirography the fact is written ere this over the whole land — Missouri is free ! 
[Applause.] I do not feel like talking now. At the end of a long war, 
after the last blow is struck and the crowning victory won, words fail to 
give an impression of the real feelings of the victory. 

Forever be this day celebrated by our people. Let us teach our 
children, on the annual recurrence of the eleventh day of January, to 
meet around the altar of Liberty and renew their thankfulness for our 
deliverance ; and, in the historic contemplation of our redemption, renew 
the songs of our jubilee. [Applause.] Through all coming time this 
day should be celebrated in the manner indicated by John Adams for 
celebrating the fourth day of July — by bonfires, ringing of bells, firing of 
cannon, and waving of flags. 

There is something in the feelings of an old ''Black Republican," an 
old Abolitionist, who has endured the prescriptive and intolerant rule of 
the arrogant slave power in Missouri for the last fifteen years, that lan- 
guage is entirely inadequate to express. In this free atmosphere he feels 
himself a head taller. [Laughter and applause.] 

To-day we remember the acts of that party which, when in the 
incipient stages of rebellion, declared " that Missouri should share the fate 
of her sister slave States." For once they told the truth. [Applause.] 
Missouri has obtained the lead, and " her sister slave States" will share 
her fate. [Applause.] 

" We are free ! 
Tlie forest and fountains, 
The plains and mountains, 
The f^ray sea shore, 
Are haunts of hapjjiest dwellers. • • • j 

Our toil from thought all f,'lorious forms shall cull. 

To make this earth, our home, more beautiful, J 

,i And Science and her sister Poesy 

Shall clothe the fields and cities of tlie Free." 



MISSOURI 8 JUBILEE. 6 

The white men of Missouri are to-day emancipated from a system 
which has so long lain with crushing weight upon their energies. We are 
now rid of every weight, and ready for the race. [Applause.] And 
the black man, too, is free. The gates of a bright future are open to him 
as well as to us. [Applause.] 

Let us now set to work as becomes men, to rid ourselves of all the 
effects the damnable system of slavery has left behind it. [Applause.] 
Not the least among these are the bushwhackers, redhanded marauders 
and robbers, fit allies of the institution which enslaved the souls and bodies 
of men. [Applause.] 

I anticipate that the action of this Legislature, in cooperation with 
the policy of Major General Dodge, will enable us to hold in security, 
what we have so fairly possessed ourselves of. Missouri belongs to thb 
LOYAL MEN OF MISSOURI, AND TO THEM ALONE. [Applause, long and 
loud.] They have bought it with the price of blood, and their title 
is such as is respected by all civilized nations. If there is but one single 
loyal man in any one county of this State, he shall stand up at the county 
seat of his county and defy Jeff Davis and the whole rebel Confederacy. 
[Shouts of laughter.] 

We will so organize our forces as to give perfect security to every man 
in his life and property. Let our loyal men be of good cheer. Let them 
go back and repopulate the deserted counties of the border. They shall 
possess their homes again, and no man shall dare molest or make them 
afraid. [Applause.] 

Major General Dodge, commanding the Department of the Missouri, 
is not a talking general : he is a thinking and an acting one. He don't 
value any species of disloyalty. It don't bear any premium with him. 
His policy, permitted to be carried out, will give us security and peace. 
[Cheers.] Let us sustain him, and insist that everybody sustain him . 
You will see his policy only in its effects, and it will come upon some of 
our people like a peal of thunder from a cloudless sky. I refer to those 
who don't want to live in a free State, or who refuse to obey the laws and 
respect the civil authority. 

I apprehend that we will have an efficient Militia. Those who cannot 
be trusted with guns will still be militia, and will not think it hard if, 
instead of being required to shoot their friends, the rebels, they should be 
detailed to the pioneer corps, the engineer corps, or the sappers and 
miners, and be armed with axes or spades. [Cheers.] We will want 
block houses, stockades and forts all around the State, and in all exposed 
places. Roads and bridges are to be made for military purposes, perhaps^ 
and I do not know but the militia might be called on to assist to complete 
some of our railroads, as a military necessity. [Roars of laughter and 
bursts of applause.] We may lose some of our exceedingly estimable citi- 



6 MISSOURI S JUBILEB. 

zens, who love slavery and civil war better than peace and prosperity. 
But I don't know where they can go. It is dangerous to be a traitor 
everywhere now, and there is no security for Slavery on this continent 
to-day, nor henceforth forever. 

There are counties in this State where the large majority of the people 
make no effort to enforce the laws, or to render secure the lives and prop- 
erty of their loyal neighbors. It may be necessary to have a military force 
in srch counties, and if so, the circumstances justifying it, that county will 
have to pay the troops stationed there. [Loud applauds.] I tell them 
that the loyal men among thera are not to be compelled to flee their homes. 
They shall be protected, [applause] and those who do not attempt to assist 
in putting down lawlessness shall pay for it. [Applause.] 

In Free Missouri we intend that every man shall have something to 
do, and when a man is found doing nothing, we will ascertain whether he 
comes under the first section of the act concerning vagrants. [Laughter.] 
I don't mean to seU these fellows who are loafers one day and bushwhack- 
ers the next. I don't believe any person could be found to invest in such 
chattels; but I hope the Legislature will annex another and greater pun- 
ishment to vagrancy, so as to make the law a terror not only to evil doers 
who are taken in the act, but also to those who cannot give a good account 
of themselves, and have no visible means of support, useful occupation or 
known abiding place. 

Soon the white winged angel of peace will hover over Missouri, and, 
rising up in her greatness, she will beckon on Arkansas and " our sister 
slave States," to share with lier the glorious destiny of Free America. 
[Applause.] One by one they will wheel into line beneath the flag that 
waves only over the free, and the land of Washington will shine forth in 
perfect freedom. The star of her glory will rise up to the zenith of its 
splendor, and, defying alike domestic feuds, civil discord, treasonable con- 
gpiracies or foreign aggressions, the genius of the re-United States of Amer- 
ica, like the star which the wise men beheld in the east, will, with the broad 
seal of eternal endurance stamped on her front, be the beacon light to lead 
the people of the whole earth to the shrine of Liberty, and teach them to 
worship with Amorica, and rejoice in her blessed freedom. [Enthusiastic 
applause.] 



CONVENTION RESOLUTION. 



Hall Missouri Statk Convention, St. Louis, Missouhi, ) 
January 11, 1865 — 3 o'clock, p. m. \ 

Mr. Budd, of St. Louis, offered the following resolution : 

Resolved, That a copy of the Ordinance passed by the Convention, 
freeing all persons hitherto held in bondage in the State of Missouri, 
signed by the President of this Convention, and attested as a true copy 
from its records by the Secretary, be and the same shall be placed in the 
hands of a special messenger, and transmitted without delay to the Gov- 
ernor of the State, at Jefferson City; and when received by him, he is 
requested by this Convention to issue a proclamation to the people of this 
State, stating that, by the irrevocable action of the Convention, slavery is 
abolished in the State of Missouri now and forever. 

Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor. 

Upon motion, the resolution, as offered by Mr. Budd, was unanimously 
adopted. 

A. KREKEL, 

President Missouri State Convention. 
Attest : 

Amos P. Foster, 

Secretary Missouri State Convention. 



PROCLAMATION OF FREEDOM. 



Executive Department, | 
CiTt OF Jeffkmon, Missouki, January 11, 1866. 1 

It having pleased Divine Providence to inspire to righteous action the 
sovereign people of Missouri, who, through their delegates in Convention 
assembled, with proper legal authority and solemnity, have this day 
ordained : 

" That hereafter, in this State, there shall be neither slavery nor invol- 
untary servitude, except in punishment of crime, whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted ; and all persons held to service or labor as 
slaves, are hereby declared free> " 

Now, therefore, by authority of the Supreme Executive power vested 
in me by the Constitution of Missouri, I, Thomas C. Fletcher, Governor 
of the State of Missouri, do proclaim that henceforth and forever no 
person within the jurisdiction of this State shall be subject to any 
abridgment of liberty, except such as the law shall prescribe for the com- 
mon good, or know any master but God. 

In teatimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and caused the great seal of 
t. B. the State to be affixed, at the City of Jefferson, this eleventh day of January, A. D. 
eighteen hundred and sixty-five, 

THOMAS C. FLETCHER. 
By the Governor : 

Francis Rodman, Secretary of States 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011898 459 6 



